Tyson Griffin Impressed Dana White, But Not Enough For Title Shot

There’s no doubt that the UFC’s lightweight division has an abundance of contenders, but normally after an impressive win like Tyson Griffin had at UFC 103 over Hermes Franca, you’d expect for him to be in the title mix. Unfortunately for Griffin, UFC president Dana White wasn’t so sure.

When asked if Griffin’s W puts him in the picture to contend for UFC gold, White avoided the question altogether by saying, “I mean that 55-pound division is nasty, there’s so many talented guys down there. There’s so many things that can happen.”

Not quite the ringing endorsement that employees like to hear from their boss’ mouth.

Pouring additional salt on the wound is the fact that Griffin’s Xtreme Couture teammate, Gray Maynard, appears to be closer to a lightweight 5Rounder than he is.

“If Gray got the title shot I’d be happy for him. I’d help him train for it and train with him to win,” Griffin explained.

Griffin did state that he would prefer to not have to fight a teammate, however acknowledged that it might be unavoidable and something that might just have to go down in order for the dust to settle.

“As far as fighting teammates it’s kind of an unwritten rule that it happens for titles and if it happens it happens. Other than that, like [Dana] said, the weight division is stacked. There’s tons of other guys we can fight if the title’s not on the line,” Griffin said.

After Diego Sanchez gets his chance at BJ Penn’s strap at UFC 107, it’ll be interesting to see who the UFC lines up next. Two Xtreme Couture fighters will be eagerly awaiting an answer as well.